Epson today issued an update on the situation surrounding its employees and businesses in the aftermath of the earthquake that struck the Tohoku area of Japan on March 11. A Disaster Headquarters led by President Minoru Usui has confirmed the following:

1. Epson employees

The company confirmed that although no casualties had been reported among Epson staff as of release time, it was still unable to make contact with one employee. Epson is continuing to make every effort to confirm the employee's safety.

2. Major Epson facilities affected

Epson has a network of more than 40 manufacturing sites located all around the world. Of these, the four plants listed below were affected by the earthquake with all other sites remaining fully operational. Recovery work is underway at the affected plants with the exception of the Epson Toyocom Corporation Fukushima Plant, which is within the 20-km compulsory evacuation zone around the Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station.

(1) Epson Atmix Corporation(Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture: manufacture of powdered metals, components manufactured with metal injection molding, and artificial quartz) Epson plans to resume production of components manufactured with metal injection molding and artificial quartz from the start of April. Production facilities and equipment for powdered metals was affected by water in the tsunami, and we plan to resume production at the end of April.

(2) Akita Epson Corporation(Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture: manufacture of printer components, crystal devices, and ultra-precision components) We resumed production of all product lines on March 22. We will continue production while constantly assessing the power and fuel supply situation.

(3) Seiko Epson Corporation Sakata Plant and Tohoku Epson Corporation(Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture: manufacture of inkjet printer components and semiconductors) We resumed production of inkjet printer components and partial production of semiconductors on March 28. We will continue production while constantly assessing the power and materials procurement situation.

Production may be affected by issues relating to procuring certain components. Epson is now looking to minimize the impact by procuring alternative components and making technical adjustments.

4. Impact on business results

Epson is presently assessing the impact of damage caused by the earthquake and the subsequent effect on the full-year consolidated financial results (year ending March 31, 2011). The company will issue a timely disclosure release as and when it becomes necessary.

3rd Notice on the impact by the Major Earthquake in Northeastern Japan

March 31, 2011

The Nikon Group would express our deepest condolences to the victims of the earthquake and extend our profound sympathy and heartfelt concern to those individuals and families suffering from the disaster.

The following is an update regarding Nikon Corporation and its group manufacturing facilities.

Safety of the employeesAs have previously informed, to our deepest regret, death of one employee of Sendai Nikon Corporation has been confirmed and safety of three employees is not yet confirmed in the area of Natori City, Miyagi Prefecture.

Reopen of operation at the manufacturing facilities and outlook on the future productionOne of our own plants and seven of our manufacturing subsidiaries are located in the disastrous region of Miyagi Prefecture, Tochigi Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture *. All of these facilities have resumed their operation now with reopen by yesterday, March 30 of Sendai Nikon Corporation and Miyagi Nikon Precision Co., Ltd.

It has been becoming clearer that we will be able to secure parts/components including their replacements through our investigation of the current conditions and possible measures to secure the procurement in our collaboration with our business partners. However, we have a concern that the situation may continue where our production cannot fully satisfy our customers’ requirement due to inability of full swing production worsened by the planned blackouts of electricity. While we will do our utmost effort to overcome such expected difficulties, we will be most grateful if our customers could understand such circumstances.

Forecast of effect by the damage to our business performancesWe are continuing our endeavor to evaluate how the immediate damage by the disaster and planned blackouts of electricity will result in our group companies and business performances. We will announce our findings immediately when it is judged that there will be important change in our forecast.

Tenba Launches New Skooba Harmony Women's Bag CollectionTenba launches the latest new bags from Skooba. Skooba Design has added a collection of products designed exclusively for woman to its award-winning line of laptop bags and tech/travel accessories. The bags in the new "Harmony" collection blend the look, fashion and quality of a high-end tote or handbag with the capacity and protection of a laptop bag.

Tenba Launches New, Ultra Lightweight Discovery CollectionDiscovery is the lightest weight collection of professional-level bags that Tenba has ever created, and is built to our legendary "Crafted Without Compromise" standard. Discovery bags are the perfect carrying solution for photographers who want to walk, bike, hike or climb with their gear - activities which truly require the lightest bags availble.

The Canon Refurbished inventory at Adorama has been modestly increased. Before buying one of these like-new items, be sure to compare the price to both new price and the price at the Canon store to make sure you are getting a good deal.

Lots of other good deals are available - use one of the above links, click on the "Specials" link near the top-left of the page and then narrow your selection using the options on the right. Select brand "westcott" for example.

1. Changes the name of the feature called "Art Filters" to "Creative Filters" (which is used in markets other than Japan) in the Japanese version to make the terms consistent. (This change only applies to the Japanese version and does not apply to other language versions.)

2. Fixes a phenomenon where the camera may operate abnormally when it is set to Quick Mode AF during Live View shooting immediately after capturing an image with the C.Fn II-1 Long exposure noise reduction setting set to [2: On] and a shutter speed setting of 5 seconds or more.

3. Fixes a phenomenon where the camera may operate abnormally when after Live View shooting, the remote switch on the EOS Utility screen is pressed to immediately start movie-shooting. This phenomenon only occurs when the camera is connected to a compatible personal computer and the Remote Live View function of EOS Utility software is being used.

Adding Support for Canon's sRAW and mRAW formats, two additional Sony cameras, and Nikon's D1x

Austin, Tx, March 29th, 2011: Bibble 5.2.2 is new available for download now, and provides broader RAW file support, improved stability, and resolves minor issues found in previous releases of Bibble 5. Bibble 5.2.2 add support for Canon's sRAW and mRAW formats, Nikon's D1x, and Sony's a290 and a390 cameras. This update is free for all current Bibble 5 customers.

Bibble 5.2.2 also improves interaction with plugins that change the size of your photo, like zFrame and zShadow, and seen in the screenshot below. These plugins allow you to add creative frames and drop shadows to your images - directly within Bibble 5. Output images will look exactly like the preview in Bibble, ready to publish and share. You can create Presets with your favorite zFrame and zShadow settings to quickly add your finishing touch to every image in Bibble.

Bibble 5.2.2 is our third free update so far in 2011, and shows our continued commitment to constantly improving Bibble 5, adding not only newer cameras like we did in 5.2.1, but also older, popular cameras, creating one workflow tool for all your digital photography needs.

Availability, Upgrades, and Pricing

Bibble 5.2.2 Pro and Bibble 5.2.2 Lite are available immediately for Windows, Mac, and Linux computers for $199.95 and $99.95, respectively, from http://bibblelabs.com. Bibble Labs customers who purchased Bibble 4 since September, 2006 are eligible for a free upgrade to Bibble 5. Bibble 5.2 is a free upgrade for all current Bibble 5 customers.

Canon Japan has posted a notice indicating that the release of three of the new lenses you and I are anxiously awaiting has been postponed.

Here is the Google translation:

Apology for postponing EOS series lenses for sale

East of the great earthquake recently, everyone was affected, to those families and I would like to sincerely sympathy.

Well, EF is also damage plants ranging Utsunomiya our production base of the lens. Therefore, to guide and Orimashita released in March 2011 "EOS series lenses," For, I guide it to postpone the release date now as follows. We are currently promoting recovery measures in manufacturing facilities. For a concrete release date, as it becomes clear again I guide.

Release date Summary of Changes

Product Name

Expected Release Date (before)

Be released (after)

EF300mm F2.8L IS II USM

March 2011

Undecided

EF400mm F2.8L IS II USM

March 2011

Undecided

Fish EF8-15mm F4L USM

March 2011

Undecided

Customers will have a great inconvenience, it will continue to make every effort for the sale, thank you so continue to support the continued patronage.